


Past

by mocking_words



Series: 12 Days of Romanogers (Christmas 2015) [6]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 17:16:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5506229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mocking_words/pseuds/mocking_words
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Natasha and Steve spent Christmas together</p>
            </blockquote>





	Past

**Author's Note:**

> Day six of #12daysofRomanogers

Natasha was different. She was a spy, an assassin and most importantly, she had worked for the KGB. Her past was never something she was proud of, and she wanted to clean the red out of her ledger. It wasn’t going to be easy, but she was taking it step by step. After being recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D, she was sure she was going straight. The aftermath of the battle of New York left her with another team, a team she was starting to consider something like family. She didn’t know how a family was supposed to function, but she was quite certain that being family didn’t include blood ties. That wasn’t as important as the relationship that was formed. Although her team was far from being called normal as far as she could tell. Bruce Banner, who turned green and smashed cars against buildings, Tony Stark, or better known as Iron Man, who was essentially a guy in a tin can, Steve Rogers, a soldier seventy years out of time, Clint Barton, who shot arrows at Chitauri aliens, Thor, who was a Greek god from Asgard, and herself, a messed up spy trying to clean up her act.

There wasn’t any doubt that they were far from a perfect team, but she did begin to find them amusing. They worked well together in any case, although there were occasional squabbles that got out of hand. She just never thought that she would be spending so much time with them after New York, but it seemed that Fury had decided to keep all of them in a team, right there when he needed them in the Avengers Tower, built by Tony Stark. Natasha had never had a place to call home before; she was constantly on the run, moving from city to city, going target after target. It was such a strange concept to her, returning to the same place at the end of each mission, seeing the same people in the mornings for breakfast and at night for dinner. It was new, but it was comforting. She liked the feeling of it, but this would be the first time she would be spending Christmas with them. The idea of it was foreign, she’d heard of it, but she’d never been able to spend it with people whom she thought of as close to her. It wasn’t as if she didn’t trust them, each of them had saved her life more than once, although she was still wary around Bruce. There was no way she would be able to fight him if she had to. It was an unwelcomed idea to think that she would have to fight the Hulk.

* * *

“Good morning Ms Romanoff.” Jarvis greeted as Natasha walked into the communal kitchen.

“Good morning Jarvis.”

She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down by the bar top. The elevator opened the reveal Clint standing there half asleep, still in his pyjamas, “Morning Nat.”

“Morning Barton, you’re up awfully early this morning.”

Clint yawned before sitting down beside her and planting his face on the table, “I promised to spar with Cap.”

“I’m sure he’ll let you off if you tell him you just got in four hours ago.”

“I’d feel bad. Can you go in my place? I feel like I’m going to die.”

Natasha stirred her coffee, creating a whirlpool, “Okay.”

Clint looked at her and raised an eyebrow, “You’re willing to go? I thought it’d require more convincing.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Go before I change my mind.”

“You’re the best Nat. I owe you one.” Clint sighed, making his way back to the elevator. She smiled to herself, she didn’t mind helping him, but it would be weird to be sparring with Steve Rogers. She didn’t have anything against him, but she didn’t know him that well either. The elevator opened again and this time Steve appeared, slightly sweaty. She looked at the clock on the wall; it was half past seven, so she could only assume he had just come back from a run.

“Good morning ma’am.” He greeted when he saw her. She smirked at him, “Good morning Rogers, I see you still haven’t shaken off the habit of calling ladies dames and your usage of ma’am.”

His face flushed red, “It’s a habit.”

“Well I’m not going to hold it against you soldier, no worries. Barton can’t make it today for your session, so I’m going to be his replacement.”

“Thank you for offering…” he said, a smile on his lips, but then his face turned up in hesitation, “But you don’t have to if you don’t want to, I could always do it another day with Clint.”

She sighed, smiling, “It’s fine. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone on a mission, so it’s good timing anyway.”

Steve nodded as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, “I’ll meet you downstairs in ten minutes then.”

“I’ll be there.” She smiled. It wasn’t her first time fighting beside him, but it was the first time they would be fighting each other. It was going to be interesting.

* * *

“That’s all you’ve got?” Natasha taunted as she dodged a punch from Steve, “Don’t hold back soldier, I’m not going easy on you.”

She had gone to the gym after changing into her workout clothes. The moment she had walked in, Steve very obviously blushed even though she was only wearing a tank top and shorts.

“I know one too many people who would definitely react differently.” She smirked, teasing him.

“I’m sorry; I don’t mean to be rude.” He said, scratching his head.

Natasha shook her head, she couldn’t believe how innocent he was, “Calm down soldier, I’m just teasing.”

The nature of her job made her a little less sensitive to what guys had to say about her body, but Steve was as gentlemanly as they came. She climbed under the ropes of the boxing ring, and she could tell Steve was resisting the urge to turn away. He was so innocent she felt like laughing.

“Come on Rogers.” Natasha smiled, holding back a laugh.

The punches that came flying weren’t as hard as she was expecting, probably because he couldn’t find it in himself to hit a girl. She landed a punch in his stomach, and it was as expected, rock hard. She almost felt the pain in her knuckles. He probably realized that she wasn’t playing around anymore, and she noticed. He moved faster this time, and his punches got harder, she was kind of sure she would be covered in bruises.  She managed to block a punch he threw with her arms, and it hurt like hell. He was fast, but she was quicker on her feet. Her size gave her that advantage. She gave him a kick to his side and while he stumbled, she launched herself off the ground and flipped him over. She grinned victoriously as she straddled him. It took him a few seconds to process that he was underneath her and he looked at her like he had just committed the world’s biggest sin.

She chuckled as she got up and offered him a hand. He took it and she steadied herself as he pushed himself up, obviously trying to rely on her as little as possible. She knew he was probably thinking that he would just end up pulling her down with him.

“You’re a good fighter Natasha.” Steve said with a smile on his face. She smiled, he was finally able to stop calling her ma'am. Instead, it was a compliment, and she was happy to hear it, “You’re not a bad fighter yourself Cap. Although I could tell you were still hesitant at first to hit me, but after you warmed up, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be sore later today.”

“I’m sorry if I hit you too hard. I didn’t mean to.” He quickly apologized, his face turning down into the frown. She really didn't know what to say, he was so different compared to every other guy she'd spoken to in a while.

"You're too innocent Steve. But I like that." She said, turning to leave, "Thanks for today."

Natasha smiled as she entered the elevator, it was nice having someone who took notice of something other than her body. She supposed that being here after joining S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't a bad thing at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone loves comments and kudos :)


End file.
